Rhetorical Analysis Of Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream Speech

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What would you do if someone was being harassed just for being themselves? What if they were just trying to order a cup of coffee yet they couldn’t because of something like the color of their skin or what was on their head? Would you pretend as if nothing was happening and this was simply normal behavior or would you stand up and raise your voice against the harassment and convince others to do the same? Throughout history, there have been many instances in which oppression or segregation has held back a certain group of people. In response, many have risen up and convinced others as well to stand up for what is right. Martin Luther King Jr. for example, wrote his famous “I have a Dream” speech in retaliation to the segregation of black …show more content…

It can clearly be seen in Dr. King's “I Have a Dream” speech. Dr. King talks about the suffering and pain the people of color have been through. He specifically answers to the question “When will you be satisfied?” In response, he says, “We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating ““For Whites Only!”” (9) This is a response that provokes emotion, specifically anger, especially with bringing up children. It brings rage to those who have children and it makes them want to fight along with Dr. King against the laws and the authority that have been the cause of their suffering. The people are angry and they want to restore justice and equality so that they and their children can live in peace. Pathos quite often appears in Malala Yousafzai's Nobel Prize acceptance as well. Her speech focuses on women’s rights and education for all, specifically in countries where both are lacking. In the speech, she also told of her personal experience with the Taliban and how this has contributed to her cause even more. Malala yousafzai says. “Young girls have to do domestic child labor and are forced to get married at an early age. Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism, and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems faced by both men and women” (23). In this quote, sadness and empathy are felt greatly by the listeners. Here in the United States of America, basic rights and freedom are inalienable to all but imagining a place without these rights is terrible. Once these words are heard, people start wondering “How is the so?” and “Why are things like this?” It's hard enough for us to imagine a place with no rights but getting married at fourteen is practically taboo. It is this feeling